A Couple is Three: The Beginning (book 1 & 2 Completed)

Chapter 60

Sharron returned with a tray laden with desserts, coffee, tea, and lemonade. She placed the tray in the middle of the table. She still wore a tight smile, but seemed resigned to the steps that they were taking. "I thought that we could use some refreshments before we continue."

"That sounds great. Thank you." Steve looked at his watch. "It might be a good idea for Samantha to phone her parents before it gets too late. That way they can still drive down if they want to be here." He looked around the table. "I'm sure that you would all agree that it would be better to get as much finished tonight. That way it will limit the chance of this leaking before we can bring her in."

"Why don't we all take a short break then?" John suggested as he pulled out his cell phone. "Samantha, you should probably use mine to call. That way Steve can have your phone."

Samantha nodded and took the offered cell phone. She dialled her home number from the table knowing that Steve and John or Jason would need to talk to her parents. The phone rang a few times before Samantha heard her mother say, "John? Did something happen to Samantha?"

Samantha rolled her eyes. "Mom, it's me. Everything is fine. I just—"

"Why are you calling on John's phone? What happened to yours?" Her mother's voice was filled with worry.

"That's what I'm calling about mom. Lily told us what happened to her earlier this year and we needed to talk to the police. Unfortunately, the person involved has also been texting me so the police need my phone as evidence." Samantha bit her lip as she waited for her mother to respond. She could feel Jake's fingers lightly tracing figure 8's along the side of her neck. She dropped her head to give his fingers more room.

"Texting you? Do you mean that you were being bullied online and never told me? How long has this been going on for, Samantha?" Her mother's voice rapidly moved from concern to anger.

"It wasn't anything like that, mom. It was nothing that I couldn't handle—"

"Samantha!"

"Mom, you know me. I've told you before when I was being bullied." Samantha felt Josh add his hand to her back. She took in a deep breath letting their combined scents and the feel of their hands relax her. "The main reason that I'm calling is that the RCMP officer will need to interview me, but he needs an adult, usually a parent, in attendance. Will you give permission for John or Jason to sit in?"

Samantha looked up from the table when the movement of Steve's hand caught her eye. She met his gaze and watched as he mouthed "speaker" and "father". She nodded. "Mom, can you put dad on the other line? I'm going to put you both on speaker with everyone."

Samantha was grateful that she had pulled the phone away from her ear when she heard her mother bellow for her father. As soon as she had it on speaker, she slid the phone to the middle of the table.

"We're here." Her mother's voice loud and clear over the phone. "So what's this about?"

John looked to Samantha who nodded hoping that he would take over. When he started talking to her parents, Samantha leaned back into her boys. Together they listened as John and constable Backer gave a brief overview of why Samantha was involved. After hearing her parents agree to letting her be interviewed she told them that she would call them the next day once she had her new phone.

Officer Backer took a drink from his coffee. "Now that that is out the way, let's talk about next steps." He picked up his pen and started to push the end in and out as he spoke. "I think that I can interview Josh, Jake, and Samantha together as their stories add to each other, but aren't really related." He looked down at his notes. "I will need to talk to Lily alone, but I think that I might need some backup for some of the questions."